NYTimes editorial: “Giving Up on 4-Year-Olds” and the color of punishment in our schools…

“The fact that minority children at age 4 are already being disproportionately suspended or expelled is an outrage. The pattern of exclusion suggests that schools are giving up on these children when they are barely out of diapers. It runs counter to the very mission of early education, which is to promote school readiness. It harms children emotionally at an age when they are incapable of absorbing lessons from this form of punishment. And it places those children at greater risk of falling behind, dropping out or becoming permanently involved with the juvenile justice system.”

I hope that this editorial–based on a recent report by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights–is read by many, many people.